Ireland
March 15-19, 2011
Tuesday:
We woke up bright and early to catch our flight to IRELAND! None of us could fall asleep until midnight. So we ran on an hour and a half if sleep all day. Yikes! We had to leave the house by 3am. 40 people rolling out of bed and leaving at 3 was such a funny experience. You know immediately who is a morning person and who isn't. We all loaded the bus and drove an hour to the Stanstead airport! It seems like we were just here for Italy and my experiences here are all too fresh! Luckily, we got there in plenty of time so there was no marathon through the airport this time. Our trip to Ireland is the third time I've traveled starting at ridiculous hours in the morning... I'm now a pro! Paris, Italy and Ireland’s adventures all started at 2am! It's a long day... When we go to Belgium and France we won't be leaving at wee hours in the morning which will be nice! We got through security without a hitch and had time to relax even though we were totally out of it. Getting everyone on the plane went relatively smoothly, which was a blessing!
The flight was a little over an hour which wasn't bad. We stood in line to get on the flight and got super excited that we were leaving! It hit us that we would actually be in Ireland in just a little while! Out of all the places in the UK, Ireland made me the most excited... Those that know me well know that I'm a hopeless romantic who loves chick flicks. Naturally, I've seen Leap Year and PS I Love You which both take place in Ireland! It looks gorgeous and after seeing the movies, I knew that Ireland was somewhere I wanted to go... Here was my chance!
A bunch of college boys were on out flight! Tons of people were flying in for the celebration of St. Patrick's Day... We were lucky enough to be among the many traveling to experience a true taste of what this holiday is all about!
We waited 2 hours for the second flight to arrive with the second half of the group. They couldn't get us all onto one flight. Come 8am we had been up 6 hours and we were exhausted! We laid down on the airport floor and all fell asleep until 10. When the second group arrived we all boarded the bus and headed for next stop: the Guinness beer factory! As you know people from Ireland are big drinkers. Big big drinkers! So this beer factory is famous and quite interesting as well. We went through the museum and saw how it's made, what it's made with and why it's so "good" comparatively to other brands (I wouldn't know)!
They offered us a pint at the end, but we all grabbed a soft drink instead.
We then headed for a city called Dublin! Dublin is where we would be staying for the next 3 days before moving on. We arrived and were let go to do what we wanted until 5pm on the 17th! The hotel was amazing! It was so beautiful and clean and was in the heart of downtown! We loved it!
After check in, we went to Tesco and got some groceries because we were starving. We then headed back to the room to take a nap before we had to go out. The bed never looked better! At this point we were running on an hour of sleep and had been up 12! A nap felt great. That night, we shopped and explored the city before we met for dinner. This was one of the few nights on our trips we ate together. We all met at Brazenhead Pub for dinner. Brazenhead is the oldest pub in Ireland and is known for its good food. It was fun to all eat together and just be in Ireland as a group!
We sat at dinner for 2 hours making it around 8 when we got out. The sun had gone down and it was freezing cold outside. The hotel was over a mile away so we walked fast to get ourselves home to warmth!
It felt good to get into sweats and just sit down and talk until we were half asleep at only 10pm. Sleep sounded so good and we slept so well. The first day had been fabulous despite being exhausted.
The Guinness Factory:
The city of Dublin:
Wednesday:
As a group we decided that a few of us were going to sleep in until 9 and take our time instead of hitting the streets at 7am. If you know me you know that sleep was the option I picked. Carly, Kinsey, Annie Liz and I all got up and took our time actually getting ready for the day. We blew dry our hair and took time putting make up on. It was 11 before we left to find food. We walked pretty far into the city and found a cute little pub to eat some soup and sandwiches at. We shopped and enjoyed just getting lost in Ireland. We met our group back at the hotel at 5 totally wiped out from our day of walking all over the place. We laid down for a half hour and laughed making jokes and telling stories and being giddy. I don’t give much detail about our time together, but these girls are some of my closest friends. We laugh and cry together and after the many experiences we have had together, I'm convinced we can have fun doing anything as long as we are together. I wouldn't be having the same experience or even be here if it weren't for them. I came here alone not knowing anyone, and I know I was meant to meet these girls.
We gathered together after getting some rest and decided to walk around and see what sounded good and where to go for dinner. After walking around we decided on an Italian place that had options that would please everyone! I had a great meal, but some weren't so pleased. But all of us got a lot of food for a small price- love it!!
We then attempted to go see a carnival downtown, but soon found out it was closed and wouldn't be opening until Thursday for the holiday! The girls got caught up in a store named Carrols which was one of the biggest tourist shops I've ever seen. The girls got last minute things for the next day so that we were ready to go. After we spent a ton of time trying on sweatshirts, debating sizes, picking out clothes for friends and family back home, and decking out in decorations in green, we made another grocery run and went home for the night! We all congregated in one room to chat. We talked about the old days-- or at least the old days for us. Like old TV shoes on Disney and Nickelodeon and old movies. It made me think about how fast time flies and how I'm not so little anymore! I turn 20 in May. Scary! I'm entering a second decade. Where did the days go when I could sit in a stroller, take a nap, eat whatever I wanted to, live in my own room, be taken care of by mom when I'm sick, have family home evening with my actual family, have family dinner, high school came and went, and I've been on my own for 2 years?!
I’ve been in Europe traveling all over for over 3 months. When did I become old enough to be here? I'm a junior when I go back to BYU in April for spring term! Where did time go?
Lunch and a day on the town with the girls:
Hangin in the hotel room:
Out to dinner:
Thursday:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!
Boy was this a day no to be forgotten. I spent St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland?!? I don't think I'll ever have a more authentic or special holiday ever again. It was fun to be in the country and in a big city to celebrate.
We had heard it was going to be crazy, and it was! Crazy is an understatement. We spent the morning decking out in green. Shirts, shoes, green hair, tattoos, hats, necklaces, whistles, and glow in the dark sticks that night! We looked awesome if I do say so myself. Never in my life have I ever been asked to take a picture with dozens of strangers, but our outfits made us stand out and picture worthy!
We met the entire group at the parade that takes place every year in the streets of Dublin. It was hands down the weirdest parade I’ve ever seen. The weirdest people and floats kept coming down the street. Nothing was even remotely normal! After taking hundreds of pictures and watching for a half hour we were done and ready to explore. We figured it would be smart to get food before everyone dispersed from the parade. By the time we made our way through the crowds we felt "like we had just been hit by a bus" to quote Liz! It was true. We had been running around with no food and were battling getting through thousands of people. We took food from subway to go and took it back to the hotel to eat and rest in the lobby. I ended up falling asleep on the couch wiped out and we hung out for an hour until the crowds cleared out a little bit!
In our attempt to go back out, we experienced the wild side of the holiday in Ireland! I swear the weirdest people on the planet gathered in the city to celebrate. Young kids were everywhere with clothes falling off or too tight, trash was everywhere I had never seen such a dirty city with papers and bottles from food and beer, drunk people where everywhere drinking and smoking and we were the only ones that had our heads on straight... Everyone was totally out of it! It was definitely a sight to be seen. We got to experience was this glorious holiday was all about. People warned us that people would drink, but Irish drinking I nothing like I'd ever seen. We were exhausted when we met at the bus at 5, but it was fun none the less.
Because of the holiday, our hotel would have been extremely expensive for the amount of rooms we needed. We got on the bus and headed for a smaller town called Kilkenny. It was a fun yet still crazy town where we checked into a hostel for the night! We were all worried about what it would be like seeing that our last one was worse than camping, but it was an incredible place! We had real mattresses, our group of girls got to stay all together, the showers and bathrooms were great and there was free wifi! The woman running the place was so nice and was just so grateful none of us drank.
We knew we would need to get off the streets early seeing as there would be people out. We found dinner and even though we went home early we still witnessed a fight and hit on by multiple groups of boys! Oh man...
The rest of the night consisted of girl talk, heart to hearts, celebrating, singing in the showers and laughing until we cried!
It was one of the most memorable, tiring days I've ever had! We had so much fun all together! I feel so blessed to have spent this holiday with these amazing friends who have become like family!
Our Day:
Friday
Exhausted from the night before, we slept in as much as we could and got up at 9. We packed all of our stuff up and checked it in for a few hours and had free time until 1:30 when we were scheduled to leave. It was gorgeous in the morning. The sun was shining!! We haven't had a sunny day in so long and it was so good to be out in the sun. We ate outside a little local cafe and sat in the sun for a long long time chatting. We walked around the little town and even walked through some of the neighborhoods until it was time to get on the bus. The afternoon’s activity was to go see a local castle and St. Patrick’s rock. It was in a beautiful town in the country! The Ireland countryside is gorgeous and so green! It was fun to see even though it was freezing cold standing in the wind. After we spent several hours there, we headed to catch our flight at the airport! It was over two hours to get to the airport, and it was weird flying home. We were all in a super nice airport in Ireland, and it felt like we were supposed to be going home! There were signs for the United States pre-customs and we all got a little homesick! At the end of trips it just feels like you should be going home... But I guess we are, to London :) it was so nice to go home back to England. It really does feel like home. And although we all have moments where we miss family and friends back home, I love it here so much! I love where I live and who I live with. It has been an amazing experience and I leave home for the US 30 days from today. Time is flying and we are going to have to live up this next month in London!
Kilkenny (yes, I'm aware we do match):
Ireland was amazing! We saw and experienced so many things that were once in a lifetime. Monday we leave for Belgium for a day and then France for two. As of next Thursday, our traveling is over! The next 2 weeks will then be spent here in London doing everything that is left on our list!
I love it here and have grown so much. The memories will never be forgotten and the friendships I've made I know will last a lifetime!
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